After the meeting with Amaimon, Konekomaru kept on trekking through the forest, though being more careful and listening to his surroundings. Gale was perched on his shoulder, little talons gripping the fabric of his shirt. A rustle in the bushes got him at the attention. He felt the weight of Gale disappear from his shoulder, leaving it feeling empty. He prepared for the worst, tensing for whoever would be coming out from behind the curtain of leaves.
Then he relaxed when he saw Bon and Shima come climbing out from behind the bushes.
"Bon! Shima!" His friends looked up when he called, smiling when they saw that it was him.
"Koneko! We were wondering where you were!" Shima went to Konekomaru and pulled him into a playful headlock, knuckling his head playfully.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Shima laughed as he continued to do what he was doing. He only stopped when Bon stepped in.
"Alright, that's enough." Shima finally let go of Konekomaru, letting his bald little friend go free. "So, how has your time in this survival camp been?" Konekomaru got a bit quiet as he answered the question, his eyes going off to one side slightly.
"Oh, well, you know... surviving." Shima snickered a bit, leaning on his friend's head like he was a side-table.
"Well, yeah, that's kinda the point Koneko." Konekomaru smiled nervously, shifting a bit under the weight of his friend's arm. "Seriously, though, did you guys see that thunderstorm last night? That thing was freaking loud. I could barely keep my canopy from flying away, it was so windy. All I managed to do was find a couple of trees and tie my plastic sheet to them. What did you guys do?" Bon shrugged, sticking his hands inside his pockets.
"Kind of the same thing, only I actually found a tree with some good cover, so it wasn't all bad. What about you Konekomaru? Did you have any trouble finding shelter?" Konekomaru, managing to slip out from under Shima's hand, shook his head.
"Oh no. I actually stayed pretty dry last night. I found a little cave next to the river, so I was able to sleep pretty well. Other than that, my time has been pretty uneventful." This was a large lie. He had slept well after having been initially awakened by the thunderstorm, then calmed by Gale. Still, his dreams were rampant with his nightmares. Neither Bon or Shima knew that he was afraid of thunderstorms, mostly because he had never told them. He kept this kind of thing a secret from them, so that they wouldn't worry about him. This was the same reason he hadn't told them about Amaimon. It scared him, yes, but no actual harm had come of it, thanks to Gale's intervention.
"Aw man, lucky," Shima half-whined. Bon frowned a bit though. Something was off about Konekomaru today. He seemed, evasive for some reason. However, he brushed it off when he saw his friend's smiling face. If he looked like that, he had to be fine, wasn't he? A dry scraping noise from the bushes drew their attention. Shima gripped his staff, half afraid it was some kind of large bug creature crawling towards them. He lowered it, however, when he saw that it was Shura's snake familiar. All of the students knew what their teacher's familiar looked like. The creature raised its' head and looked at them with its' yellow, slitted eyes.
Misssstresss Kirigakure hasss ordered that you return to camp immediately. It issss very important. It turned to go off again, but then stopped suddenly. It seemed to look at Konekomaru for a moment, yellow eyes looking straight at him. Its' tongue flickered out of its' mouth, bringing the scent to its' nose. Then, it turned and left, leaving no trail of its' ghostly presence behind.
"What? Why do they want us back already? The training isn't even halfway done," Shima wondered out loud. Bon shrugged, but started walking.
"Well, whatever it is, we'd better get moving back to base camp. Come on you two, let's go." With nods, the two began following. However, Konekomaru walked in the back, on purpose this time. Somehow, he felt uneasy walking between his two friends, and wanted to keep his distance. From its' hiding place in the trees, Gale watched, an evil leer in its' eyes.
–
"So Amaimon, did you capture your quarry?" Mephisto slowly sipped a cup of tea, awaiting his younger brother's response. Amaimon kicked the dirt, scattering a few pebbles at his feet.
"Nope. The stupid Gale got its' host and flew away before I could catch it. I'll get it next time, though." Mephisto narrowed his eyes, licking the remaining tea from his lips.
"Yes, you'd best. Well, do you at least know who it is your quarry is?" Amaimon looked upwards, as if searching for the answer in the sky, then shrugged.
"Nope, can't remember their name. Or what they looked like." Mephisto had to repress a growl of annoyance that had been building in his throat. He kept his calm, smooth demeanor on the surface and smiled pleasantly to hide his inner rage. "But, if I got close enough to smell them, then I'd know 'em. It wouldn't be too hard. The person the Gale is possessing smells like fear, and milk for some reason." Amaimon shrugged at the thought of the white liquid that the humans drink. "Well, either way, I'm gonna' go see if I can pick up the scent again. Later Ani." Amaimon jumped down, disappearing from Mephisto's view.
Once on the forest floor, Amaimon walked casually through the forest, slowly cracking his knuckles one at a time. The loud 'crack's echoed throughout the trees, causing nearby forest animals and birds to fly and scurry off.
"I still don't understand why you didn't attack that boy earlier Behemoth. I ordered you to." His familiar gurgled and growled back at him. "I also don't understand what you mean by 'the boy who saved your life'. How could that shrimp have saved you?" Amaimon actually did remember what Konekomaru looked like, though not his name. He just wanted to find the kid himself without his brother interfering. It would be more fun to snap the kid's neck when it was all done anyways. "Well, either way, it'll be fun when I find that kid. I can give him payback for messing up my hair. He tilted his head to the side quickly, cracking his neck in the process, then did the same thing on the other side to repeat the process. "Now the hunt really begins."
–
The students were back at True Cross Academy sooner than they had expected. The teachers still hadn't explained their sudden withdrawal from their test, but were told that they were given a passing grade. Rin badgered Yukio for information as well, but got nothing out of his younger brother. Once everything from their trip had been put away, Konekomaru had excused himself for a walk outside. Bon and Shima had let him go without complaint, and now Konekomaru was walking the paths of the academy, looking for a shady, secluded spot where he could talk to Gale. He was so busy looking around that he accidentally bumped into someone on the path.
"Oh, I'm sorry I got in your way." He looked back in front of him and was a bit surprised to see Takara standing there. It was odd, they hardly ever saw the carrot-haired ventriloquist outside of class, not that they really spoke to him when they were in class to begin with. It was just strange to see him outside of the cram school, silent or not. There was silence between them for a moment before Konekomaru backed away a step to go around Takara. "Well, sorry for bumping into you. Excuse me, I have to-" he stopped short when Takara shoved his bunny puppet into Konekomaru's face. He was looking right into the sewn-on button eyes when Takara began speaking through the puppet, as he was apt to do.
"Beware the dark, red-eyed crow
It's intention is not noble
As when the wolf is hunting the doe
The innocent's fate will be horrible
Page 669!"
With that said, or rather shouted, Takara stepped around Konekomaru and went on his way, now as silent as always. Konekomaru couldn't help but stare after Takara, but then shook his head and went on his way, trying to find a shady spot. He finally found one underneath a large weeping willow, the leaves creating a low cover that hid him from view from the passerby. He sat there, and began to wait. However, what Takara had said to him still rang in his mind. On a whim, he pulled out the book of poetry from his bag. Frowning, he flipped the book until he reached the page that Takara had yelled at him. He saw a poem on that page, and began to read it.
Hidden Evil
Evil is not a foreign thing
It is all around us in life
From the shine in a wedding ring
To the blade of a kitchen knife
The creatures of evil lurk not in dark
But with the good ones in the light
Never losing or missing their mark
It's hard to tell what's wrong or right
Beware the dark, red-eyed crow
It's intention is not noble
As when the wolf is hunting the doe
The innocent's fate will be horrible
Evil hides within the human heart
It is not a thing reserved for fable
It is not excluded from any part
And will even sit with them at the table
So beware not the evils
That hide within the night
Rather beware the ones
That stand with you in the light
Ah, good day to you, young master. Konekomaru looked up and saw Gale, as it always seemed to appear, sitting on a high tree branch. He placed the book down to look up at the demon. He didn't even notice when a wind blew the book shut, hiding the poem within from view.
"Ah, hello... I asked you not to call me 'master', you know."
Ah, yes, please forgive me, I forgot. Gale fluttered down to him, landing on his shoulder. You seem to find yourself alone a lot, don't you? Do you not like your friends? Konekomaru shook his head, putting his hand up in front of him.
"Oh, no. Don't get me wrong. I care about Bon and Shima a lot. I just... well... I just need some time to myself once in a while. It gets a bit tiring, dealing with their antics all the time." Gale continued to look at him, saying nothing. "I mean, not that I get tired of them. It's just, you know, everyone needs a bit of alone time once in a while, you know?"
Well, if that's the case, then it seems that you require a lot of alone time. Konekomaru didn't know what to say, and the Gale took advantage of his silence to continue speaking. Should your little friends not see when you need your, 'alone time', and then offer to give you the space you require? I thought it would only be something natural that friends would do. I am here, am I not? Am I not right here when you seem to need someone to talk to? And was I not the one there when you actually needed someone, like in that thunderstorm? Konekomaru clutched his good hand to his head, feeling a pounding headache beginning to form behind his temples. It was like Gale's voice was booming in his head, like the voice of the demon was his own thoughts.
"I-... I..." His head hurt, and he couldn't think straight. His thoughts began to cloud up, dark clouds as if from a storm. Slowly, though, a sound drew his attention away from his fuzzing thoughts. It was the sound, and feel, of his phone vibrating in his pocket. He finally managed to shake off the rest of the fog in his head as he answered the phone. "H-hello?"
"Hey, Konekomaru. It's Shima. The teachers want us down at the cram school now, say it's important. Me and Bon'll see you there." The line cut off, leaving only a light beeping noise in his ear. He sighed as he put the phone back in his pocket. He stood up and dusted himself off, allowing Gale to flit over and land on his shoulder. The bird-demon's beak hung near his face, like an ominous shadow.
Shall we go then?
–
Mephisto set down his teacup, which he had been slowly sipping since he had been sitting in his office. He now knew that the Gale had to be possessing one of the Cram School students, otherwise it wouldn't have been in the forest. Judging from the amount of time, it would be making the final phase of the possession soon. He smirked. Now that he knew where the Gale was, it would be easy to crush it. Interrogation would be unnecessary as well, since the student in question would most likely tell the teachers everything that happened. He had the teachers call the students together in order to warn them about the Gale. Of course, the real purpose of this wouldn't be to warn them, it would be to flush the Gale out of hiding. He folder his hands and interlocked his fingers, the smirk never leaving his face.
Now then, time to flush this bird out of hiding once and for all.